Men housed at Britain’s first asylum camp in Essex are told not to go to nearby playgrounds or carry weapons as part of advice on ‘how to be a good neighbour’

• 1,700 men will be housed at the RAF base in Essex and more at RAF Scampton

Men housed at Britain’s first asylum camp have been told not to hang around in playgrounds or carry weapons.

Each Channel migrant who arrives at the former RAF airbase at Wethersfield in Essex is handed advice on ‘how to be a good neighbour’.

It comes as a judge yesterday gave the green light for a full judicial review of the Home Office’s decision to house up to 1,700 men there and another 2,000 at the Dambusters’ former base, RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire after legal challenge by two councils.

A two-day hearing at the High Court in London began on Wednesday – just as the first 47 migrants were taken to Wethersfield.

All single men, they arrived in Britain by small boat from northern France last weekend.

Arrivals: The first men to be housed at the former RAF base in Essex this week

The Home Office document given to migrants, translated into a range of languages, also says they should not abuse anyone verbally.

It also tells them not to litter, bars keeping animals, carrying weapons and making loud noise.

They are also requested not to smoke tobacco or ‘shisha’ pipes, and advised not to ‘play or stand in playgrounds’.

Wethersfield offers an on-site GP surgery, a dining hall with meals three times a day, a multi-faith centre and recreation facilities including an indoor basketball court and a gym.

Migrants will be offered a programme of activities – likely to include running clubs and art lessons – in a bid to keep them occupied on the site. But they are free to come and go from the base.

Local residents have opposed the opening of the centre, which is two miles from the picturesque village of Finchingfield – a filming location for the BBC’s Eighties detective drama Lovejoy.

Numbers at Wethersfield are set to ramp up to 1,700 men by the autumn. The Home Office will lay on shuttle bus services to nearby towns, likely to include Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford.

Cheryl Avery, the Home Office’s director for asylum accommodation, said arrivals will go through an induction process including guidance on ‘acceptable behaviour’.

Protesters who feel the former RAF base at Scampton is unsuitable for 1700 asylum seekers in April

Braintree District Council and a local resident of Wethersfield are challenging the use of Wethersfield as an asylum camp, while West Lindsey District Council is challenging the use of Scampton. In a ruling yesterday, Mrs Justice Thornton ruled in all three claimant’s favour.

She acknowledged the decision to house asylum seekers on the sites ‘may give rise to strong local opinion’ and there may be wide discussions about the welfare of the asylum seekers, but said those were not matters for the court.

Mrs Justice Thornton said that two out of the 15 grounds advanced by the claimants could go ahead to a further hearing.

One relates to the Home Office’s use of planning powers, which permit the change of use of government land to prevent or mitigate an emergency which threatens serious damage to human welfare for up to 12 months, after which all development without full planning permission must be removed.

But the councils have argued that the airfields could be used as asylum camps for longer than 12 months. The Home Office has said use of the planning powers is justified.

The other relates to the impact of the Home Office’s plans on the environment.

Paul Brown KC, for Home Office, said in written submissions: ‘None of the three claims raises any genuinely arguable point.’

Leader of West Lindsey Council Trevor Young last night welcomed the ruling but added: ‘As we have seen at other large sites across the country and in particular at Wethersfield, the Home Office is continuing to press ahead with its plans to use larger sites for asylum accommodation.

Another 2,000 will stay at the Dambusters’ former base, RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire after legal challenge by two councils (file image of RAF Scampton)

‘Therefore, our challenge is to continue to balance our legal process with our duty of care as a local authority, to hold the Home Office to account on their proposals.’

Graham Butland, leader of Braintree District Council, said: ‘We still believe Wethersfield Airfield is not a suitable site for these plans.’

Opponents of the Home Office’s plan for Scampton are also outraged that it would scupper a £300million deal to develop the former RAF airbase.

Peter Hewitt, chairman of Scampton Holdings Ltd, the company aiming to develop the site, last night welcomed the ruling as ‘a triumph for both common sense and democracy.’

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